Real Impact stories spotlight the real difference people, programs and partnerships — across the system — make on the state’s economic, social and cultural well-being. For more, meet community college champion Amanda Williams.
From ages 4 to 18, Chicago’s Lauren Angus enjoyed her five-minute walk to school. After high school, she felt the new experience and responsibility of driving herself to Moraine Valley Community College.
Two years later, she resumed her walking routine when she started her junior year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Community college offers a great start for many students like Angus who ultimately graduate from University of Illinois System universities. The system collaborating with community colleges in Illinois to make the transfer process smoother produced a 5.7% increase in first-time transfers from two-year public institutions.
The system is expanding its Transfer Guarantee program to Illinois high school graduates attending any college or university in the United States. Transfer students must have at least 36 transferable credits and a 3.0 GPA or higher starting for fall 2025 admissions.
“The U of I System Transfer Guarantee helped make the whole process smooth for Lauren and for our family,” said Angus’s mother, Nancy.
Students seeking to transfer to UIUC must complete a transfer admissions application between Jan. 15 and April 5 for fall admission. The transfer application period for fall admission at the University of Illinois Chicago closes April 1, while the University of Illinois Springfield handles transfer admissions on a rolling basis.
Inspiration for an education
Angus’s brother Michael helped inspire her transfer path. After attending Saint Xavier University close to home for two years, Michael transferred to UIUC. With a 13-year age difference between them, Angus the youngest and Michael the oldest, she always looked up to him and admired his endeavors.
“Michael is someone that I would consider a role model because of his hard work,” Angus said.
To avoid Michael’s path of attending a private university before transferring, Angus and her parents decided community college was the best financial route.
“Moraine Valley was an affordable way for us to support Lauren’s schooling,” Nancy Angus said, adding the flexibility of community college allowed her daughter to continue working part-time as a server at a nursing home.
As a freshman at Moraine Valley, Angus majored in food science. Although science ended up not being her strong suit, Angus benefited from faculty support at the community college.
“My professors were very understanding and motivating for me to transfer,” Angus said.
The advisors at Moraine Valley worked hard to ensure her courses fulfilled UIUC’s requirements, helping Angus, now a communications major, appreciate her community college experience even more.
Shifting gears
Transferring to a much bigger university wasn’t easy at first.
The large classrooms and not seeing her family daily hit Angus hard. Still, community college prepared her to face challenges and spot opportunities. For example, her classmates at Moraine Valley were often much older than her, some going to school while also juggling children and jobs.
“Being surrounded by people who had a different backstory than me allowed me to really appreciate community college,” Angus said.
At UIUC, students her age surround Angus on the five-minute walk from her apartment to her classes, reminding her how her education journey began.
